Cover art for What’d I Say by Ray Charles

What’d I Say

Producer

Jun. 8, 19591 viewer43K views

What’d I Say Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Hey mama, don't you treat me wrong
Come and love your daddy all night long
Alright now, hey hey, alright

See the girl with the diamond ring
She knows how to shake that thing
Alright now now now, hey hey, hey hey

Tell your mama, tell your pa
I'm gonna send you back to Arkansas

Oh yes, ma'am, you don't do right, don't do right

[Bridge]
When you see me in misery
Come on, baby, see about me
Now yeah, alright, alright, ah, play it, boy

[Instrumental break]

[Bridge]
When you see me in misery
Come on, baby, see about me
Now yeah, hey hey, alright

[Verse 2]
See the girl with the red dress on
She can do the Birdland all night long
Yeah yeah, what'd I say, alright
[Chorus]
Well, tell me what'd I say, yeah
Tell me what'd I say right now
Tell me what'd I say
Tell me what'd I say right now
Tell me what'd I say
Tell me what'd I say, yeah

[Post-Chorus]
And I wanna know
Baby, I wanna know right now
And-a I wanna know
And I wanna know right now, yeah
And-a I wanna know
Said I wanna know, yeah

[Interlude]
What? What's that? What's that? What's that? Alright

[Outro]
Hey (Hey) ho (Ho) hey (Hey) ho (Ho) hey (Hey) ho (Ho)

Oh, one more time (Just one more time)
Say it one more time right now (Just one more time)
Say it one more time now (Just one more time)
Say it one more time, yeah (Just one more time)
Say it one more time (Just one more time)
Say it one more time, yeah (Just one more time)
Hey (Hey) ho (Ho) hey (Hey) ho (Ho) hey (Hey) ho (Ho)

Ah! Make me feel so good (Make me feel so good)
Make me feel so good now, yeah (Make me feel so good)
Whoa, baby (Make me feel so good)
Make me feel so good, yeah (Make me feel so good)
Make me feel so good (Make me feel so good)
Make me feel so good, yeah (Make me feel so good)

Huh (Huh) ho (Ho) huh (Huh) ho (Ho) huh (Huh) ho (Ho) huh

Ah, it's alright (Baby, it's alright)
Said that it's alright right now (Baby, it's alright)
Said that it's alright (Baby, it's alright)
Said that it's alright, yeah (Baby, it's alright)
Said that it's alright (Baby, it's alright)
Said that it's alright (Baby, it's alright)

Whoa, shake that thing now (Baby, shake that thing)
Baby, shake that thing now now (Baby, shake that thing)
Baby, shake that thing (Baby, shake that thing)
Baby, shake that thing right now (Baby, shake that thing)
Baby, shake that thing (Baby, shake that thing)
Baby, shake that thing (Baby, shake that thing)

Whoa, I feel alright now, yeah (Make me feel alright)
Said I feel alright now (Make me feel alright)
Whoa (Make me feel alright)
Tell you I feel alright, yeah (Make me feel alright)
Said I feel alright (Make me feel alright)
Baby, I feel alright (Make me feel alright)

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

About

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Genius Annotation

After performing his whole set during a concert in December 1958 with 20 minutes left of promised stage time, Ray Charles improvised this double single in its entirety. If that wasn’t impressive enough, he got this double single, which when put together is 5:07, to be one of his biggest hits, peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August of 1959.

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